Today, delegations representing the United States and the Republic of Yemen initialed the text of a U.S.-Yemen Open Skies Agreement. The Agreement, which will be applied on the basis of comity and reciprocity pending entry into force, will liberalize our bilateral aviation relationship.

This agreement facilitates the potential for expansion of air service between our two countries while continuing to safeguard aviation safety and security. As with all such agreements, several steps must be taken before foreign carriers may commence service from their home country to the United States. These steps include obtaining (from the Department of Transportation) economic authority to operate in the U.S.; the Federal Aviation Administration issuing a favorable assessment of the host country’s civil aviation authority safety oversight practices; and, timely carrier notification to the Transportation Security Administration about the new service and verification by the TSA that the carrier has adopted and implemented a TSA-accepted security program for all operations landing and taking off in the United States.